Maybe Baby (28 page)

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think that by the time you get Derringer back over to the stables, the sky will be ready to cut loose,” Mark answered. We agreed to call it a day and meet back in the morning.

I was preparing to remount Derringer to ride the trail back to the stable when I spotted Trey standing by the arena gate. So he was back. He looked as gorgeous as ever in a navy suit and white dress shirt. His tie was a blend of dark blue and grey. For a moment my heart fluttered, thinking that he was here to see me, to tell me that he’d missed me, and that everything had just been a big misunderstanding. I realized then that he wasn't here to see me. He called Mark over to talk with him.

I looked beyond Trey, up past the open gate to the arena. There stood Charlotte, dressed in a peach colored shift, white sandal heels, and a white wide-brimmed summer hat. She was waiting for Trey; apparently they had plans. I stood frozen, not wanting to walk past Trey and certainly not wanting to let Charlotte get the best of me. I wondered if she'd ever known about Trey and me. Past tense now, I thought. Did it even matter?

Whatever business Trey had with Mark did not take long. Trey turned without giving me so much as a glance, and walked back up to the gate to Charlotte who was patiently waiting for her man. She smiled as he approached and reached out to brush a speck of lint off his lapel. Trey closed the gate behind him, imprinting the image of the two of them on my mind for eternity. I hadn’t noticed Mark approach me.

“Hey, it was great working with you, Tylar,” he said.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“It appears my services are no longer required here. I’ve been relieved of my duties, effective immediately. I was just informed by the top man himself.”

“No! What—why?” I stammered, trying to understand.

“I was given no detailed explanation, but if I had to guess, I'd say he heard about our kiss last week.”

“How?”

“How do you think?”

“Jenna?” I said.

“Bingo,” Mark replied, sardonically. “I gotta get packed up. Take care.”

This couldn't be happening. I was in shock on a couple of fronts. This wasn't fair to Mark at all. I felt like I needed to do something. I needed to talk to Trey, but that was impossible with Charlotte around. I'd try later. He could be reasoned with, unless I had totally misjudged him, which of course, was a real possibility with my track record with dudes.

I led Derringer over to the stables just as the skies cut loose. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mark. My most pressing anger was with Jenna. I needed to lash out at someone. She was the most deserving of it. Then I remembered she wouldn’t be off of work yet. I'd wait for her.

I went back to my cottage. She was off work by 4:30 every afternoon. When the time came, I peered out of my bedroom window to get a view of Jenna’s cottage. There were no lights on yet. About thirty minutes later, the rain had died down to a drizzle. I put my flip-flops on and grabbed my keys, locking my cottage as I strode to Jenna’s cabin. There were still no lights on inside, but I pounded on her door anyway. I waited for a few seconds, and then pounded again. There was no answer.

I left her porch and walked up the gravel drive to where the pavement started. I couldn’t tell if Trey was home. I marched up the concrete steps to the massive front porch and rang the bell. Moments later, Thatcher appeared, poorly masking his surprise.

“Hi Thatcher,” I greeted, warmly. “Is Trey available?”

Thatcher was extremely uncomfortable, shifting his weight as he stood. I heard footsteps behind him on the tiled floor.

“That’s okay, Thatcher, I have this,” Trey said, now in plain view. Thatcher looked grateful to take his leave.

“Thatcher, please see if Charlotte needs a refill.”

“Yes sir,” he answered disappearing into the dining room.

“May I help you, Ms. Preston?”

“Oh, cut the crap, Trey. Why did you fire Mark?”

Trey stepped out onto the porch where I was standing, closing the door behind him. “I made a business decision, Ms. Preston. I don’t recall needing your approval or the approval of any of the other staff member here to do that.”

“I see,” I replied, coolly. “So what does that mean for me? Are you going to fire me too?”

“Of course not. Your duties will be reassigned once again. I believe Jenna requires some help over at the plantation house. I think your services could be put to good use over there. You can report to Jenna tomorrow. She can show you the ropes and get you the proper period costume.”

Oh hell to the no! He had no intention of firing me. He would simply make sure I was so miserable that I'd quit.

“By the way, Ms. Preston,” he said, eyeing my tight jean shorts, “I wouldn’t recommend your wearing those ‘Daisy Dukes’ to work. It kind of kills the whole culture we try to sell at La Vie Belle Plantation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have company waiting.”

He turned and retreated back into the house to Charlotte. I made my own hasty retreat back up the path to the cottages. I went up to my porch, opening the screen door. There was a folded piece of paper between the two doors. I opened the door and quickly entered the cottage, shutting and locking the door behind me. I unfolded the paper.

It was a printout of a digital photo. The picture was of Mark and I kissing on my porch, the porch light illuminated our faces perfectly. Unfortunately, the picture didn’t depict the part where I stopped the kiss. A message was written underneath the picture:

"I’m sure your boyfriend enjoyed this picture. Once a whore, always a whore."

I’d had enough of Jenna’s cattiness. I'd also had more than enough of Trey’s obnoxiousness. I grabbed my purse, checking my wallet to see how much cash I had. I counted $127 in cash. My bank account had over $1400 in it. That'd be enough to last me for a while. I packed my suitcase with as much as it could hold, grabbed my cell and called Denise, thankful when she answered.

“Denise, don’t say my name please if Ray's close by. It's Tylar.”

“I know who it is darlin’, why the suspense?”

“Is Ray there right now?”

“No, he won’t be back for another hour, why?”

“Denise, I need you to do me a big favor. It has to be just between you and me though. Do you promise?”

“What is it? Tell me what you need.”

I glanced at the clock on the microwave. Fifteen minutes had passed since I'd talked to Denise. She should be pulling into the drive any minute now so I shoved my cell and charger into my purse and locked my cottage door behind me. I'd have to collect the rest of my things later. Maybe Denise would do it for me. Just as I turned to walk down the steps of my porch, I spotted Jenna coming down the path.

“Well, well, what have we here? Have you found someone new to shack up with?” she chided, nodding at my suitcase. I set my suitcase down, and calmly approached her. I whipped the folded photo out of my pocket and handed it to her.

“I believe this is yours, you skank,” I spat.

Her eyes widened as she opened the paper. “Nice picture,” she commented. “It doesn’t belong to me, though.”

“Yeah, right. And you're not the one who took it and then made copies, leaving this on my door?” I didn’t mention anything about Trey getting a copy. I wanted to see what she had to say about it.

“Sorry, no,” she said.

“Jenna, I saw you in your cottage the evening that Mark walked me back to mine. I saw you peeking out from your window through the mini-blinds. That window right there in your bedroom, you can see my front porch from it.”

“That’s right Nancy Drew, I can and I did. I saw him kiss you. I also saw you break it off. But I didn’t take a picture of it.”

I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. She was close enough, had opportunity, and certainly had a motive for wanting revenge no matter how twisted it was.

“Look at the picture again,” she demanded.

I studied it. It was taken from a distance away, but the distance wasn't off to the side of my cottage; the distance was directly in front of my cottage, over beyond the path and bushes. Someone had taken that picture from a spot hiding in the bushes. I suddenly realized Jenna couldn't have snapped the photo.

“There you go, Sherlock,” she said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve nothing more to say to you.”

I hadn’t considered that it could've been anyone other than Jenna. Now this was getting creepy. I grabbed my suitcase, scurrying down the darkened path toward the stables. I quickly said goodbye and kissed Derringer. I had no time for tears right now. Those would have to come later.

Denise had parked her VW close to the stables. I threw my suitcase into the back seat and got in.

“Thanks, Denise. I owe you big time.”

“Please don’t make me regret this, Tylar,” she said, shifting the car into drive.

“It’s what I have to do, Denise. Trust me. I need to get away from him.”

“But where are you going to go, darlin'?”

“I'm not sure. I'll figure it out when I get to the bus station. I don’t want to make you any more of an accomplice than necessary, although I really think Trey couldn't care less. He’s back with Charlotte.”

“Who? Oh shit, darlin' can't you see he's just trying to make you jealous? He's way too old to be playing those games anyway, truth be told, but he doesn’t care anything about her. Hell, she got on his nerves the fifteen minutes I saw her at the hospital that one day. He finally got her to leave. She’s a pain in the ass to him.”

“Evidently not as big of a pain as I am, then.”

“I really think that you’re over-reacting.”

“Denise, he fired Mark for no reason at all, and now he's cast me out to the plantation, working with Jenna. He wants me to quit. I'm obliging him. He wins, I lose. I can live with that.”

“What about the rest of your stuff?” she asked, glancing over.

“Once I get settled, I'll have it shipped to me, I guess." I clearly hadn't thought anything through yet.

When we reached the Greyhound Bus station, Denise got out and retrieved my suitcase from the back seat, handing it over to me. I set it down and gave her a big hug. “Thanks again, Denise. I'll be in touch.”

“Take care, Ty, and please hurry back, hear?” She watched me as I went into the terminal. I went over to the ticket window.

“May I help you?” the ticket agent asked.

“One ticket for Atlanta, please.”

“That will be $57.”

I handed him my money.

“That will be Bus 451 departing from Gate D in about thirty minutes.”

I went over to a bench near Gate D. I looked at my ticket. It looked like with all the stops and one transfer, I'd arrive in Atlanta around 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. I fished for my cell phone in my purse and called Gina.

“Hey girlfriend, I thought I was supposed to call you next?” she greeted me.

“Gina, I'll be in Atlanta at the bus station around ten tomorrow morning. Can you pick me up then?”

“Absolutely,” she answered. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you all about it once I get there, okay? Can I stay with you for a little while, until I figure out what I’m going to do?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it all out together, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, my voice cracking. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Hang in there, babe. Ian and I are here for you, got that?”

“Thanks,” I sniffled.

Chapter 28

I'd been at Gina’s for four full days when Denise called.

“Denise, hi,” I greeted.

“Tylar, I’m in a real mess, girl.”

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Let me tell you what’s wrong. Trey's been a raging maniac since you left. Ray knows that I’m keeping something from him, and you know me, I don’t like keeping things from Ray.”

“Well, would it make you feel better to let Ray know that you simply gave me a ride to the bus station, and you don’t know where I am, which is the truth?”

“At this point I’m sure he'll chew my ass for not coming clean with him sooner about my involvement. Why don’t you come on back, honey? I’m betting Trey wants to make up.”

“Denise, it’s not like we had a big fight or anything. We just want different things. I don’t like being controlled by him. He has issues of his own. Besides Denise, Trey knows my cell phone number. He’s not called it even once.”

“That’s because he thinks you ran off with Mark.”

“What? Why in the world would he think that?”

“Because you didn’t take your car with you, he figures you went with Mark.”

Knowing Trey, he probably had a bounty hunter on Mark’s trail right now. Trey wasn't the type to enjoy thinking he'd been bested by another man. I needed to do something if only to make sure that he didn’t have someone looking for Mark.

“Denise, do you know where Trey is now?”

“He left for Atlanta late last night. He will be in his office there today and half-day on Saturday, then he’s back here.”

“I'll take care of this, all right? Don’t worry about it. I'll handle it.”

“Be safe, darlin’. Call me and let me know what happens.”

“I will,” I promised.

Gina walked into the room just as I hung up with Denise. “What’s up?” she asked. I smiled at her.

“Show time,” I answered, filling her in on the details.

An hour later, Gina was driving in downtown Atlanta traffic. I'd borrowed a black pencil skirt that was tight in all the right places, a grey silk blouse that had the top two buttons undone, hose, and three-inch black pumps. Gina loaned me a black clutch to set the very sexy, but very businesslike outfit in place. She did my eye makeup for me as only she could. My hair was flat-ironed straight, now below my shoulders. I checked my lipstick in my compact mirror. Perfect.

“This is it,” Gina said as she pulled her car to the curb. It was an impressive building in downtown Atlanta. “You call me when you want me to pick you up, okay?

I nodded, but suddenly my courage had taken a hike. I got out of the car and walked across the pavement, entering through the revolving glass doors into the building. Trey’s firm was in the penthouse. That figures, I thought, pushing the button for the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened on the top floor, the first thing I saw was the huge, gold sign with the firm’s name inscribed on the wall: “Pierce, Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair.” I had to admit, it was impressive. The heels of my pumps clicked on the marble floor leading up to the receptionist’s station. A very pretty, well-dressed blonde looked up as I approached.